Vinyl to outsell CDs by the end of 2019

It’s not uncommon today that electronic gadgets and even the virtual world have been replacing things from our “real world”. Video stores have lost space for online videos. Physical books were exchanged for ebooks, online events bring people from all over the world together in one place to discuss and of course, with music, this would be no different. With the rise of streaming platforms, physical CD sales dropped worldwide, but with a big surprise: Vinyl sales were back to growth.

Even in a world where people prefer to listen to music on their cell phones in the middle of the street, it seems that the vintage wave has taken over not only everyone’s clothes, but old habits, and one of them is vinyl. In a recent survey, the RIAA found that vinyl sales will exceed CD sales by the end of this year of 2019. While CDs have sold 18.6 million units so far, grossing about $247 million, vinyl has now topped $224 million with only 8.6 units sold and still growing.

Between the bestseller and one of the biggest contributors to the big comeback of vinyl on the charts, is Queen’s ‘Greatest Hits‘, followed by pop-world sensation Billie Eilish and her ‘When We All Fall Asleep Where We Go‘ and rounding out the podium is Joy Division‘s ‘Unknown Pleasures‘. Other great classics featured in the 2019 Vinyl Top 10 sales include Pink Floyd, Nirvana and David Bowie. Since 1986 vinyl hasn’t sold more than CDs, and today, it already accounts for about 4% of total music sales, compared to 80% of streamings.

TOP 10 Vinyl Sales – 2019